1. Hannah Richards
Vegetarian fact file
A vegetarian is a person who does not eat meat from any animal, as they believe
that it is cruelty they also do not eat poultry, fish r game or any product made by
slaughtering an animal.
In the UK there are approximately 1,500 adults and 1,580 children who have
classed themselves as being vegetarians and at the moment the leading country
for most vegetarians is India as over 40% of the population have confessed to
being vegetarians and the country with the lowest rate of vegetarians is Portugal.
The leading vegetarian company is the ‘Vegetarian Society’ who have a website
full of information on why we should be thinking of becoming vegetarians and
what the advantages are of changing our diet to vegetarianism, they also hold
events such as vegetarian picnic for current vegetarians and for people who want
to convert or just for people who want to try different foods.
In 2006 a study was made into different diets and we have found that having a
vegetarian diet is healthier and lowers the risk of high cholesterol and heart
problems. We have also found that people who live on a plant based diet live
longer than those feeding on a meat-based diet.
Research also shows that a vegetarian diet can lower the risk of obesity,
diabetes, various cancers and kidney stones.
There are very few vegetarian cook books in the world and the first one ever
wrote was made in the UK in 1812 when vegetarianism had just become popular
and the first vegetarian society in the world was formed in 1847 again in the UK.
Many people go for a vegetarian diet due to several reasons, the main reasons
are Animal welfare, Health Improvement, Environment concerns, Food safety
concerns and weight loss.
The largest and most well known companies that vegetarians are targeted by are
Quorn who sell meat substitutes such as quorn, tofu and ready to eat dishes, The
Vegetarian Society who also sell food products but they focus more on holding
events for vegetarians and Redwood who supply the vegetarian market with
foods which are healthier and kinder to meat alternatives.